Roy wasn't pleased at all when he saw just who it was that had come to greet him when he arrived in Central.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded angrily. He'd been sure that he'd left this particular male back at the headquarters of East City.

Hughes lifted his hands as if to show he meant no harm. "Calm down, Roy," he said, tone serious. Everyone knew that Hughes was constantly talking about his daughter, but now, his tone was serious. That meant something big had gone down.

"What happened?" Roy asked immediately, tone just as serious. "And where should we go to talk?"

So it was that a few hours later, the Flame Alchemist was pacing back and forth in the hotel room that he and his friend and procured for himself. "What the hell do you mean?!"

Growling, he finally glared at the messenger of such bad tidings. "How much information do you have?"

Hughes sighed, knowing that it would have come to this. "Your lover's been taken by the ring, too."

That, of course, caused Roy to blink, utterly confused. "Lover?" he asked, sounding like something of an idiot.

Maes frowned. "What, are you kidding me? You've had him in your house for what, two months now, and you haven't gotten around to screwing him yet?"

The connection was made and Roy nearly yelped in surprise. "I-it's not like that!" he said, speaking quickly. "And it's been six weeks, the last four in which he was here!"

"Still, even two weeks?" Hughes asked, skeptical.

Roy sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I said it wasn't like that." He was surprised to hear his voice was tinged with regret. His friend looked at him strangely, but, to his relief, put the topic out of his mind.

"Anyways, he's also been taken. Apparently, he's beautiful enough to work for the males." Hughes said, frowning a tad. "When my informant asked why he wouldn't be paired with females, the only thing that they said was something along the lines of him being too young for the ladies to get any fun out of it. And since he's male, no matter how young he is, if it's a girl, he could take advantage of her and run."

Roy growled, unconsciously. "Certainly, he's beautiful." He admitted, bringing a hand to his chin. "But to force that kind of beauty to be a sex toy?"

Maes looked at Roy suspiciously, before saying abruptly, "You're in love with him."

The alchemist blinked, having been taken completely by surprise. "What?"

"Don't try to deny it." Hughes said, before starting a list. "Every time his name's come up in a conversation, your eyes get all light and fuzzy, and you smile a bit, and he's in danger now, but instead of acting like someone who's worried for a friend, or even a family member, you're acting more like a male who's ready to kill over your girlfriend. Not to mention, you're starting to wear the carpet thin, and I'm willing to bet that you know Ed's habits almost better than he does."

Roy blinked. "But that's-!" He tried to think of a response- to find some sort of falsehood in his friend's words, but he failed. Miserably.

He sank into a nearby chair. "You've got to be kidding me. I'm in love…? With someone that's younger than me by what, five, six… maybe ten years?"

Lieutenant Colonel Hughes pinned his longtime friend with a glare. "Stop lying to yourself. You entered the army at what, sixteen? That's around the same time as me, and we were in it from necessity to put down the rebellions. Granted, we got the proper training for it. Ed turned sixteen just a couple weeks ago- two to be exact; same as my daughter- and you're only twenty-nine years old."

"That's still a thirteen year difference." Roy said, sighing. "There's no way this could work. And besides, my priority right now isn't my relationship; it's saving him from that damned slave trading ring."

Maes frowned slightly. "You know, you may want to sort your feelings out first. If something goes wrong, or if he does love you, and you throw it in his face over a misunderstanding… You know Ed. He'll take it like a man, and wait for the hurt to grow, and he won't say a word to anyone, even when he finally breaks."

Roy nodded, throat stuck. He did know. He'd seen it happening, and no matter how the boy looked- how beautiful he was when he was hurting, with the tears and all- he didn't want to see him hurting again. The expression certainly made him beautiful, but the reasons behind it were what he disliked.

Realizing that his friend had lost himself in his thoughts, the Lieutenant Colonel stood up, depositing a folder on the table before the two of them. "I'll head back to my room- you go ahead and think. Think long, and think hard, about what you're going to do with Ed when you save him. Because you will save him."

And it was true. Roy would save him, because Roy knew now. He was in love with Edward Elric. There was no other explanation for the warmth he felt when the boy came up in conversation, or when he saw the blonde, or even the way the boy acted. There was no other explanation for the way he changed some of his actions, just because they made the blonde smile.

He frowned. Shit. I've always been in love with him, haven't I?

And from the recesses of his mind, he found an answer. Yes. Yes you have.

Ed groaned as he woke. He opened his eyes only to squeeze them shut again. The light hurt. It sent piercing attacks straight to his skull, and it hurt.

He thought back to what had happened. He'd been talking with the lady, and then he'd fallen unconscious.

Okay, fine. Where am I now?

He looked around, this time opening his eyes more cautiously, and saw that he was in different clothes. In fact, that was the first thing he saw, seeing as he was in a mirrored room. Looking around, he saw that all four walls of the room were mirrored, and looking up, he saw the ceiling was as well.

He'd been tied to a pillar in the center of the room- that much was obvious from the soreness in his arms. There was no doubt that he'd been there for quite a while. Just how much time had passed?

Then, he took note of his clothing. He was now in a white button-up shirt, which was half undone, as if whoever had dressed him had been busy as they'd done so, and the jeans he wore were almost as tight as the pants he'd worn as an alchemist, and, if possible, were just as black.

"What the hell…?"

He wasn't worried about his body taking control- that's what it had been doing for god knows how long, as he tried to maintain his steel prosthetics, and such. But he was surprised that it had happened so suddenly.

Okay, so that means they used a drug. Which would explain why everything hurts right now.

Thinking about it, he found that it was strange. Why me? Is it the same person who gave me the message? The black coat man? The lady?

There were too many people for him to suspect. He sighed. Since he'd made no progress in who it was that had brought him here, he figured he may as well try to come up with a way to escape. But first, he'd have to free himself from his bonds.

Because he'd been tied with his arms separated by the rather round and large column, he couldn't use alchemy, and since his clothes were different, it was obvious that he didn't have any weapons on him.

He frowned, staring at his bare right foot. His alchemy was done using a circle made from his hands- all is one, one is all- but who was to say it wasn't possible to do with his feet?

The idea was crazy, but an idea was an idea. And besides, whoever had changed his clothes had seen fit to keep his feet bare. He pressed his feet together, and concentrated. Of course, he failed miserable.

His legs weren't as flexible as his arms were, and it was harder to control power that was so far from the brain. He sighed, and sagged back against the column.

"Uncomfortable?"

His head came up, shocked. Where had the voice come from? Looking up, he saw a woman before him, but she was different from the lady with the missing ring.

"A little." He said, shrugging. "I've had worse, but I'm starting to lose the blood in my arms."

"I see. Should we relocate you, then?" the lady asked him.

"That's up to you, really." He shrugged again. "But I'd be happier if you could explain what's going on."

She sighed. "Well, I guess that would help, wouldn't it?"

Ed nodded, wondering if she would really explain.

Apparently so.

"You're in danger, so we decided to keep you safe by bringing you here."

He raised an eyebrow. "Tied up? And drugged?" he asked, sarcastic. He had the right to be.

"I didn't know that they'd done that." She admitted.

He sighed. "So there's more than one person that are, apparently, interested in my welfare."

"I'm sorry, but I can't give you any names."

"Could you let me down? I won't run." And it was true. He didn't know where they were, or even what time it was since there were no windows in the room, and there was only the ceiling light to keep things visible.

"Of course, sorry." She apologized, before taking a knife from a pouch on her leg. She took two steps forward, and cut through his bonds, freeing him.

He nearly fell forward, but managed to maintain his balance. Then, he rubbed at each of his arms, and shoulders, feeling sore.

"Okay, now keep talking. And what should I call you?" he asked her.

"Er…" she seemed to be searching for a name. "Oh! Winry."

"Winry." Ed frowned. "You've done research on me, haven't you?" He was a bit unnerved, and more than a little worried.

"My friend found the name from your conversation with the blonde girl at the station about a month ago." She replied, shrugging.

"The man in the black raincoat and strange mustache?"

She winced. "He was that obvious?"

"Well? Keep going. What are you keeping me safe from?"

She frowned. "Not one for small talk, are you?"

He fixed his eyes on her. "Not when I'm in a hurry, no."

"You received a note saying that you were in danger. It also said to tell no one, am I correct?" she paused then, waiting for his response.

"Right." He looked at her suspiciously. "How'd you know about that?"

"An acquaintance of mine dropped it off for me."

Instantly, Ed was on his feet. "What the hell?!" he demanded, outraged. "You'd better explain, and explain fast, lady." He was tense now, no longer as relaxed as he'd been as she'd spoken.

"It's true- you ARE in danger, but we needed to get you away from that man!" she cried out, a bit worried. Perhaps she shouldn't have freed him.

"Miss Winry, you'd better explain. What man? And why have you taken it upon yourselves to keep me safe? And from what?!"

She spoke quickly now, eying him warily. "The one with the fire in his gloves. We needed to get you away from him. And we're trying to keep you safe because my friend, the same one that planted the note for us, asked us to. From what, we've yet to know."

Ed glared at her. "This is a very strange way of keeping someone safe. And why the hell did you need to get me away from Roy?!"

He'd left home, and Roy, to keep them both safe, only to find the whole damned thing had been a farce? He was only a tad bit pissed.

"I know you're angry, but hear me out, please." She said, eyes serious. "There's a slave trading ring that had their eyes on you- no one knows why."

"Didn't you just say that you didn't know what you were supposed to keep me safe from?" he asked, frowning.

"I must've said it wrong. I meant that we didn't know why we were keeping you safe from them. But then, all we know is that we're keeping you safe from a slave trading ring. We don't know who they are, or whatever else might be involved, so it's still true that we don't know."

Ed sighed. "Right, right. Anyways, why are you keeping me away from Roy?"

She shrugged, slightly. "Not sure. My friend asked me to do that, too."

Ed wanted to hit something. "So who is this friend of yours?" he asked, in a normal tone of voice.

"I can't say anything." The lady said to him, almost regretfully. "But my friend said that this will be for your benefit as well, if only you would work with us."

The blonde groaned. "Great. Okay, fine. What do you want from me?"

She blinked. "Um, just… don't argue…?" she wasn't exactly sure what to say to that. "Pretty much, to live with the situation for a while. I'll assign you an actual room, but you'll have to give me your word that you won't try to escape. I've got some very strong magnets by all the exits. I know steel isn't technically supposed to be bound by the rules, but these will work on steel, too. Particularly automail, so you won't even be able to alter them, even from a distance."

"Fine. I'll stay. How long?" he asked, exasperated. It was starting to look more and more as if he were stuck. Of course, he didn't need to use existing doors to get in and out of a building. But he wasn't going to tell her that.

"Just until my friend says."

"Look, when's the next time you'll be getting in touch with this friend of yours?" he asked her, frowning.

"I don't get in touch with him- he's usually the one that gets in touch with me." She said honestly, opening the door out of the mirror room.

"Right. Did he say around when the next time he'd contact you was?" he asked, pumping her for information.

"Only that he needed time to… Well, in his words, 'I need to convince that pighead of a colonel, so wait until then, and keep him safe, alright?'"

"The colonel… Mustang?!" Ed made the connection quickly, and then shook his head. "Could it be? There are plenty of other colonels…."

"No, you're right. It was Mustang." She admitted, leading him down the hall. He was relieved to see the hallway was normal, and devoid of mirrors. He was worried about seeing double simply because he kept seeing his reflection.

"But…." Ed didn't understand. "Why?"

"Who knows?" she shrugged. "But this is what he wants, and I owe him favors, so this is what I'll do."

She opened a door, and let him in. It reminded him of his own room. He smiled, softly. We arranged it using the blueprint my friend owes me, so it should be like a second room to you…" she said, before pointing out where the bathroom and kitchen and other places were.

"You can go just about anywhere- just not outside. But if there's something you'd like me to buy, there's a shopping list on the refrigerator downstairs in the kitchen. Just add it to the list, and I'll be sure to get it for you."

He nodded. "I'm guessing I should stay away from the phone?"

"Please do so." She agreed. "Of course, you could make calls, but the location itself is untraceable, thanks to certain strings I've pulled, and you don't know the address, so it should be okay, but nonetheless, please avoid using the phone."

He sighed. "Fine."

She smiled at him. "My friends will be by later. Oh, and you'll be pleased to know that we managed to find that lady's ring."

He looked up, surprised. "Turns out the barkeep wanted to keep it for himself. Thought he could sell it for some money, but my buddy got it back for her."

"Thanks." He wasn't sure whether he should be relieved or not, but it made him feel better to know that the lady had been honest. It was nice to know that someone had been honest, anyways.

"She got home safe, too."

"Thanks, again." He grinned at her.

She seemed surprised, but simply shook her head. "Any requests for dinner?"

He was surprised, but when he glanced at a clock, he saw it was around four in the afternoon. "No, nothing. Go ahead and do your worst."

She grinned. "Don't regret those words later."

"I won't. What day is it?"

"If it's because you're curious, you've been unconscious for two days." And with that, she turned from the door and shut it behind her, heading for, he presumed, the kitchen.

"What the hell is going on, Hughes?" Roy demanded, angry. "Where's Ed?"

"What, he's not here?" Maes asked, almost innocently.

"No, he's not! And apparently, the leader of the damned organization has no idea who or what Ed is!" Roy bit out, shaking his friend by the collar violently. "And not to mention that when I mentioned the wordalchemist, he told me that they didn't take alchemists because there's no telling what they'll do!"

"Oh, well, I must've gotten papers mixed up!" Maes said cheerfully, slipping free of his friend's hold. "By the way, have you gotten your feelings figured out?"

Roy turned pink. Quickly. All the way to his neck.

"I guess that means you have." Hughes nodded, thoughtful. "Alright, I'll take you to Ed, but if you're not careful with him, I'm going to hurt you. And while I might've made you understand that you're in love with him, it's still unknown whether or not he knows he loves you. Even if he does. Love you, I mean." Then with an almost nonchalant motion, he gestured towards his car.

"Come on. We're running behind schedule, if I'm correct."

"…You asshole, you had this whole thing staged, didn't you?" Roy accused as he followed after his friend.

The lieutenant colonel shrugged. "What can I say? It was obvious to everyone else that the two of you had the hots for each other- they had bets going on how long it would take for you two to get hitched. And it gave me something to do- something that wasn't full of gory details and bad sentiments."

Roy sighed. "Alright, I can't blame you for that, but I wish you would've told me."

"Why? So you could've run away? Certainly, you wouldn't have just listened to me." Hughes grinned. "You're not as obedient as my dear baby girl. Did I tell you about the time sh-"

Roy glared at him, without holding back a whit of the feeling of impending doom he was giving his fellow soldier. "One more word, Maes, and I will set you on fire."

Hughes sighed. "You're no fun, Roy." He started the engine. "Anyways, it's not too far from here, so just hold on a lil' bit longer, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, just start driving already." Roy scowled.

"Damn have you got it bad." He sniggered, before pulling away from the curb.

Twenty minutes, singed hair, and a burnt-to-cinders front door later, Roy was happily stealing the keys from Hughes along with the car, and he drove away from the house that had housed Ed in New Optain, Ed safely in the passenger seat next to him.

Of course, he had taken pleasure in the outraged cries behind him as they drove away.

Then, looking sideways at the blonde, he saw that Ed was looking pointedly out of the window. He'd never done that before. Not when there was someone else there to talk to.

"Ed?" he called softly, worried.

When the boy jumped, startled, he frowned. "Is something wrong?" he asked the blonde.

"No…" Ed was quiet for a few moments. Then- "You're not angry?"

"What?" Roy was a bit dumbfounded. "For what?"

"Because I left. I didn't say anything, and I disappeared." He said, quietly. He felt guilty again. He'd been feeling guilty quite a bit over the past month or so. Of course, Al… Al was his fault. Or at least, that's what he'd thought. Staying with Naomi- the "Winry"- had been helpful in more ways than one.

For one thing, she was motherly, and if anything, that helped him get over Al's death best of all. She'd made him understand that his brother was dead. His existence had only been prolonged with the price of his arm, and there was really nothing else he could do.

Even if he didn't understand, she'd helped him in ways that no other person could have. Except maybe Riza. She had a mothering quality that hovered around her.

He sighed, almost regretfully.

"Do you want me to be angry?" Roy asked the blonde, confused.

"No! No, I don't want you angry." Ed bit his lip, looking at his hands, which were held together in his lap.

"If it makes you feel that bad, just say sorry." Roy said, shrugging a bit. "I was worried, but to be honest, I felt as if you'd never left, since the papers you left for me had so much useful information in them."

Ed looked up, surprised. He'd forgotten about the assessment. Before he could ask, though, Roy grinned at him. "Thanks to your hard work, I got a raise, and extra vacation days. They're thinking about promoting me, too."

The blonde beamed at him. "I'm glad I was so useful."

Roy blinked, nearly blinded. The setting sun fell on Ed's form just right, making him look nearly heavenly. Woah! Damn you, Hughes, for making me realize my feelings. Ever since he'd spoken with the lieutenant colonel, he kept thinking about Ed in new ways.

Particularly at night. While he was sleeping. Those were the most memorable "thoughts", and they often gave him quite a bit of grief come morning.

Roy tilted his head backwards a bit, unconsciously trying to fend off a bloody nose.

"Roy?" Ed blinked up at him, almost cutely.

"Er, nothing!"

"You're sure you're alright?" the blonde asked, a worried look on his face.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Roy assured the blonde. "Do you want to just swing by the hotel and catch a train home? Or do you want to stay the night and rest up?"

Ed blinked, and then yawned. "Why'd you have to ask?" he sighed. "Now I'm sleepy again!"

"Sorry." Mustang grinned, almost sheepish. "So, which is it? Home today? Or home tomorrow?"

"Home today." Ed nodded. "It's… nice there."

Though the blonde worried if calling Mustang's home his own was alright, but the colonel was pleased. It would be that much easier to bind the blonde to him if the blonde felt at home with him already.

As it was, he would be wide awake for a while yet, so he figured it was alright to go home. That way, he could wake Ed up if he fell asleep on the train. And it meant he'd get to see the boy's sleeping face.

Why do I keep thinking like some perverted old man…? He frowned at his thoughts. He mentally sighed. Well, when it comes to Ed, for him, I guess there are few things I wouldn't be.

He smiled softly at the boy beside him, though the blonde didn't realize it.

AN: Happy New Year's! This is the promised chapter- but don't get comfortable. They'll likely be short again after this. Though I'll try to get in the occasional longer chapter. Anyhow, progress at last. Tell me what you think, ne?